TomBettle

Hmmm, let me think about that for a moment.....

Again more cr@p. The so called Angling Commentator should know his stuff if he "talks" about fishing. There are one or two documented cases of them turning up around the British Isles, predominantly of Devon and Cornwall.

Again some wonderful journalistic bull sh1t. Common would be the wrong word, but they are very much in evidence in Biscay, the outer Western Approaches and on the continental shelf off Southern and Western Ireland out to the Procupine banks where they are quite prolific. Essentially they are following the gulf stream which continues up and past Scotland. The area around Scrabster is a great sharking spot even in the depths of winter. Based on the flow of the current, this billfish isn't incredibly unusual as it has only strayed a relatively short distance from the flow that runs further north. The warm seas created by the hot spell we recently had would have pushed it South chasing the mackerel and herring shoals. Certainly not a big one, but it would have been far better to have caught it on a rod and line than in a net

In stock now (In my office)! Virtually unused, mint condition, Quantum Hypercast Carp rod. 12' long, 2 3/4lb test curve. Is this too much for you? Lovely rod, doesn't even look like I have mounted a reel on it although I must have at some point in the distant past.

As usual, I can't do a Sunday

Me thinks that someone is getting into their bassing in a big way?

Les Isn't that just a flowing trace with an extra swivel?

I may have one kicking around somewhere Wedger. Can't remember if I sold them or not, but I think I still have a Quantum 2.25lb in the garage. I'll check tonight and let you know.

Do they mean

Simon It is Southampton Boat Show time and the deals are being done so whether it is a Merry Fisher 480 or a Prestige 50 I am not ashamed to admit my trousers will be well and truly down for a month or so from now on. You are anyone (particularly club members) looking for a deal will always get one. The best deals are on exisiting stock for the simple reason we need to shift it to make way for the next batch, but great deals can be had on forward orders too. Tom (Sorry Martin for very obvious prostitution of my lovely boats, but it was Simon's fault!)

I personally never use the crimps and simply have the hook length swivel running free. I find it gives the bait more movement.

We certainly get plenty of Tope down around the area I was fishing, but I don't think they are as prolific as they are in some of the IoW grounds and immediately off Poole. We were getting loads of Tope takes, but trying to snatch the baits away and on the shark gear our hooks were HUGE so it was quite literally hit and miss.

With Fred's successful capture, it has spurred me on to keep trying, even harder now. The freezer is full of goolish concoctions of Sea Magnet, Pigs Blood and all sorts of other fish attracting goo and it all needs to be tipped, ladled or hung over the side at sometime soon. Anchoring seems to get the trail going very well, but drifting just "feels right" so next go will probably be back on the drift, but most likely in the general area we had the run up on Friday. I am keeping my fingers well and truly crossed for the next attempt. Tom

A huge well done on that one Fred. Guess I just have to keep trying!!!!

Superb fishing Trev. Those "toothpaste" boys really do know what they are up to and will put you over the fish. I am feeling a little bit smug that Rup had a bad day, not maliciously, it just makes my cr@p endeavours with the boys seem slightly less pants and puts it into a little bit of perspective. Well done chaps, keep the reports coming as they make great reading. Tom

7 this morning saw me collecting Phill Dawson (Bosun at Salterns Marina) and his wife, Sheila. for another go at those English Channel Sharks. Armed with my new tagging gear from Doc Ken Collins of the shark tagging programme along with 4 shark set-ups and 3 12lb / 20lb bottom set-ups, 60Kg of frozen rubby dubby and a generous quantity of my new special formula rubby dubby we headed to a mark much closer than a fortnight ago, In fact, within half an hour we were on our spot. Today we were to try anchoring, rather than drifting, a couple of hundred metres uptide of a wreck a short distance south of the Shambles in somewhat less than 30 metres of water. Down went the hook and Sheila did a great job getting our first fresh mackerl for bait whilst I sorted the rubby dubby and got the rods over. The usual 80 feet, 60 feet, 40 and 20 foot spread was set out, but as we were anchored, 8oz of lead was placed on sliders to try and keep the baits from rising to the surface. Two bottom rods were set and the third was kept for mackerel as and when we required them. 15 minutes in and halfway through the first cup of tea there was a short, but unmistakable burts of ratchet from the deepest rod. Looking out I could see the blue balloon bobbing violently 50 metres away and then shoot under and along just under the surface before pulling free of the line. I have to admit I didn't really know what to do next. I have caught many very large fish abroad, but always had a skipper and crew working for me. To be honest, Big Game fishing abroad the angler doesn't do an awful lot and it is the boat crew who play the biggest part. Admittedly I panicked a little and simply through the reel to "strike" and let the weight come on to the rod. It came on alright, but my racing heart sank as a fairly week, nod nod and a yard of line left the spool. Tope... On 20lb / 50lb stand-up gear the little 12lb pack Tope felt no more than a doggie and she was unceremoniously winched in unhooked and released quickly, nose into the tide. I settled back down to finish my tea thinking "should really have tagged her", we'll do the next that is big enough. Moments later and Sheila's little downtide bottom rod is lurching over the side and after a brief scuffle her very first Tope is on the Surface. Not big, but she was over the moon. During the last hour or so of the ebb, Sheila managed three futher Tope of between 12 and 15lb. None were weighed, all went back in moments and two were tagged as a "practise run" for the real thing. Phil finally managed to hook a small one on his bottom rod too, but he was being well outfished by the FPO. The tide died away and on came the doggies to the bottom rods so leaving the rubby dubby sack trailing I rasied the anchor and steemed at 2 knots to what was about to be the new utide side of the wreck. Settling in, the tide pcked up nicely, but the fishing didn't. Doggie after doggie after doggie on the bottom rods and nothing to the big guns and balloons. A fe boats were drifting the reef marks around us for Bass, most were coming over to see what we were doing, but weren't staying too long, so I guess the fishing wasn't good for them either.... ......sssscccccCCCCCRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAA MMMMMMMMMMM The deepest shark rod went off like a rocket. The startled sea gulls lept from the water and the balloon burst in a flurry of white water. "This is it" I kept telling myself, this is what you have been waiting for. The run carried on for probably 10 or 15 seconds against a medium drag as the tide was running hard. It stopped and for once I calmly took the rod from the holder and waited for the second run. tic tic tic sssssccccCCCCCCRRRRRRRREEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMM off she went again. With rod held high I slid the lever to strike and the weight began to load up and then nothing! Absolutedly gutted, both me and the mackerel bait. I reeled in the sharkless trace and the bait was still their, but one mackerel had a small piece of head left and the other had no belly. This bl@@dy sharking is tough stuff! Tom

oooOOOO Who's a pretty boy then? And in the words of Little Britain... "I'm a Lady don't you know"

Scott may need crew for tomorrow if you are free, another bash at the sharks.....

Lumpsucker

My brother is also after something on the lines of Plaicemat's Microplus, but his budget is low too. Any one with anything suitable then please let me know. Tom

Super creatures. Was lucky enough to see a Mother and calf Minkie down in Brixham at the start of June

LOL @ Terry. My Big Game fishing experience isn't great and I have all but sold my gear as I no longer have the funds to travel the world Jackyboy, whereabouts are you hoping to get GT's from the beach in Mauritious? Last time I was there (a few years back) I was fishing with Sportsfisher (Benoit wots his name) out from Grand Bay. Gotta say, my trip was pants. 12 days there, 6 fishing and only 3 hook-ups with none to the boat. All three strikes happened within half an hour of each other within half a mile apart down between the light house and Black wotsit (can't remember the names of the places now). First one was a monster, an estimated grander, had it on for about 15 mins and tail walking about 10m behind the boat, the next two were smaller at a guess 450 and 250 each. Other than that my trip was pretty sparten with nothing more than a few small tuna. Tom

30lb Rod can easily take up to about 12lb to 15lb of drag, but that is huge for GT's. I tend to only have about 15lb drag for Tuna and Marlin on 50lb stand-up and fish into the many hundreds of lb. The fixed spool, however, isn't geared for that sort of drag. About 7lb is the maximum sensible drag otherwise you begin to mash the gears as it is used as a winch and more over the line will bed in heavily. Maybe start with a drag at about 9lb to really get the fish away from the reefs that it will be trying to get into and then back off just a smidge otherwise your very expensive Fin-Nor (or whatever) Big Game fixed spool just won't hack the pressure. If you attempt to use a beach casting or "Big Pit" carp fixed spool it just won't stand up to it. My concern would be the reel rather than thr rod. Tom

I am trying to answer the question as one of the new members who isn't fishing comps rather than a longer term member who fish them and can't understand why others don't want to or haven't got the time to. XXXXXX Just a guess, but isn't Sunday's the actual day for the family.....? Sunday lunch, Mothers Day (Didn't we stop a trail away for that this year), Granny coming over, mowing the lawn etc etc. Adam you hit the nail on the head. "and to be honest if we look at the attendees they are pretty much the same (bar one or two) as the previous years, " It is generaly the same people entering as they either 1) have the time to come out and fish for the fun of it or 2) are competitive spirits. The lower turn out is that people are particularly excited by comps. In addition, the club has very successfully gained membership by promoting itself as a very good place to learn about safety, fishing in general and comaradary. The people joining (myself included) joined for the above, not to fish loads of competitions. Tom

Guys, you are missing the point. It isn't so much the competitiveness of it, when I fish a comp it is for fun, if I win great, if I lose, who cares. It is simply about finding time to fish when te comps are on. A lot of us (actually me) work a lot of weekends, when I am not working I like to spend time with my daughter and my fishing tends to be in little bursts of two or three days at a time when I have a break. These little bursts rarely co-incide with a comp. I am sure not everyone has exactly the same situation as me, but I would guess that many are similar with families, FPO's, jobs around the house, building boats etc etc etc. Brings me back to the flexibility of saying, "This months competition will be fished on any day between the 18th and 25th, a maximum of 8 hours fishing, please call in with the day you are fishing and then again with your results." Our club comps are almost exclusively trust based so why can't this work? It even allows for duff weather. Tom